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Topic: Making your own dough sheeter (Read 55567 times)

For those that like a thin/crispy pizza: do you own your own sheeter? If not, have you thought about trying to make a manually-operated one?

I dabble in woodworking and I am mechanically-inclined (whatever that means). After seeing that there are no manual dough sheeters out there, aside from a rolling pin, and since I'm not willing to part with $600-5000 for a real dough sheeter, I've decided to try and build one from scratch. I will post any progress I have on it here.

I have one of those hand-cranked pasta machines from Italy. I've had it for 15 years and use it to make pasta - it's great. It has a sheeter on it, but it's only about 6" wide. I wrote the company and asked if they had a larger one for pizza and they don't; obviously in Italy, sheeters are not used, and not needed for making a margherita-type pies.

If anyone out there wants to elaborate with me on building this, drop me an email or post here. Thanks - Mark

Eric - I was thinking along the lines of an old clothes washer ringer, like they had back in the late 18th century / early 20th. Two rollers, one with a crank handle and some way to adjust the clearance between the pins. It's still in the idea-stage, but hopefully, I'll be able to make a prototype. I'm really surprised some chinese company isn't making these.

ps - Well I'm gonna to go then! And I don't need any of this! I don't need this stuff, and I don't need you. I don't need anything except this [picks up an ashtray] and that's it and that's the only thing I need, is this. I don't need this or this. Just this ashtray. And this paddle game, the ashtray and the paddle game and that's all I need. And this remote control. The ashtray, the paddle game, and the remote control, and that's all I need. And these matches. The ashtray, and these matches, and the remote control and the paddle ball. And this lamp. The ashtray, this paddle game and the remote control and the lamp and that's all I need. And that's all I need too. I don't need one other thing, not one - I need this! The paddle game, and the chair, and the remote control, and the matches, for sure. And this! And that's all I need. The ashtray, the remote control, the paddle game, this magazine and the chair.

ps - Well I'm gonna to go then! And I don't need any of this! I don't need this stuff, and I don't need you. I don't need anything except this [picks up an ashtray] and that's it and that's the only thing I need, is this. I don't need this or this. Just this ashtray. And this paddle game, the ashtray and the paddle game and that's all I need. And this remote control. The ashtray, the paddle game, and the remote control, and that's all I need. And these matches. The ashtray, and these matches, and the remote control and the paddle ball. And this lamp. The ashtray, this paddle game and the remote control and the lamp and that's all I need. And that's all I need too. I don't need one other thing, not one - I need this! The paddle game, and the chair, and the remote control, and the matches, for sure. And this! And that's all I need. The ashtray, the remote control, the paddle game, this magazine and the chair.

And this dough sheeter.... the ashtray, the remote control, the paddle game, this magazine, the chair, and this dough sheeter.

Just thinking outside of the box... instead of the somewhat more complicated design of the two-roller clothes ringer, why not eliminate one of the rollers with an approach like this:

Not a bad idea ! I was sort of thinking that too, as I was struggling to roll out my dough yesterday, wishing I'd had two steel plates that I could put the dough in between and then drive over with my car.

Not a bad idea ! I was sort of thinking that too, as I was struggling to roll out my dough yesterday, wishing I'd had two steel plates that I could put the dough in between and then drive over with my car.

Mark

That would be OK, I guess, but if you had an actual steam roller I think you could really achieve a thin crust. JMHO.

Another possibility would be to use one of those presses they use to make diamonds. I understand those can produce something like a million pounds of pressure per square inch. Imagine how thin that dough would be.

Randy - thanks for the link. That's what I had in mind, but those are a little pricey. I'm gonna try and find one in a junk shop or flea market and maybe put new maple rollers on it. I'd like to keep it at or below $50.

Mark, ya, I thought they were stiff. Seems to me you could still buy those machines through the sixties and they were normally bottom of the line.

I do have a thought for you. I noticed when trying to roll out this dough that if you can hold the opposite side it does not spring back as bad. How about turning a one handed roller so the other hand could hold the dough.

Eric - I was thinking along the lines of an old clothes washer ringer, like they had back in the late 18th century / early 20th. Two rollers, one with a crank handle and some way to adjust the clearance between the pins. It's still in the idea-stage, but hopefully, I'll be able to make a prototype. I'm really surprised some chinese company isn't making these.

ps - Well I'm gonna to go then! And I don't need any of this! I don't need this stuff, and I don't need you. I don't need anything except this [picks up an ashtray] and that's it and that's the only thing I need, is this. I don't need this or this. Just this ashtray. And this paddle game, the ashtray and the paddle game and that's all I need. And this remote control. The ashtray, the paddle game, and the remote control, and that's all I need. And these matches. The ashtray, and these matches, and the remote control and the paddle ball. And this lamp. The ashtray, this paddle game and the remote control and the lamp and that's all I need. And that's all I need too. I don't need one other thing, not one - I need this! The paddle game, and the chair, and the remote control, and the matches, for sure. And this! And that's all I need. The ashtray, the remote control, the paddle game, this magazine and the chair.

A classic movie....

That's really good pizza-in-a-cup.

Logged

Man does not live by bread alone. There's also tomato, cheese and pepperoni.

cinnibunz

Found you looking to make my own dough sheeter. I already thought of the wringer thing, but they're too small. How about using the steel rollers from one of those wood working stands that holds up your wood while you cut it? Still a problem with adjusting the rollers though. Keep us posted. I want one too.

I did a Froogle search for "manual dough sheeter" and came up with one interesting return. Unfortunately, it was a used item and was sold out, but it is just the sort of thing I think many of us would fork over $100 for. In the meantime, I will keep thinking about building one. Mark

I realize this topic is pretty old, but in case anyone is still interested in making their own dough sheeter, I found a place where you can purchase some instructions on making your own slip roll, which is a similar piece of equipment used for bending sheet metal. I haven't purchased the book or even used a slip roll, but I thought someone more mechanically inclined might give it a shot.